Create a free Manufacturing.net account to continue

Merger Creates New Player In North American Marine Engineering

COWI NA announces that effective January 1 2015 Ben C. Gerwick and Ocean and Coastal Consultants (OCC) will merge operations to form COWI Marine North America (COWI Marine NA). Joining forces creates a great opportunity for both companies to grow and to be the...

COWI NA announces that effective January 1 2015 Ben C. Gerwick and Ocean and Coastal Consultants (OCC) will merge operations to form COWI Marine North America (COWI Marine NA).

Joining forces creates a great opportunity for both companies to grow and to be the customers' preferred specialist consultant for all marine projects. With effect from 1 January 2015 COWI Marine NA will be the new specialist business unit in North America, built on a solid foundation of decades of experience and deep knowledge of the market.

President of COWI NA, Steve Hunt, sees this as a great opportunity to consolidate the best resources and skills in one business unit covering the entire geography of North America.

"The merger of two sister companies within COWI North America makes sense. Together they will be stronger, able to meet the increasing market demand for one‐stop‐solutions and this will also bring great career opportunities for all employees who wish to expand their horizons within a stronger business. In addition, adopting the COWI brand links strongly into COWI's international marine business with its strong track record of large port and marine projects undertaken for international clients," says Steve Hunt.

Gerwick, based in Oakland, California has been part of COWI since 1988. While its involvement on projects is international in scope, its resources are concentrated on the US West Coast. In order to create better business and opportunities for all involved, and to expand the scope of business to the rest of North America the time to consolidate is now.

"It is time to act in the COWI name which we have been part of for a number of years. Being part of a much larger organization will provide both the financial and professional strength to successfully pursue large, complex projects, and deliver all services involved in such a project," says Winston Stewart, currently MD of Gerwick.

OCC has been part of COWI since 2007. It is based in Trumbull, Connecticut with resources concentrated in the US Northeast. As part of COWI Marine NA they will leverage a strong brand associated with larger projects, giving staff an opportunity to pursue large marine projects anywhere in the US or Canada.

"We will be able to offer our customers a larger pool of skills, resources, and relations and meet requirements for larger projects covering ports and terminals, coastal resiliency, and multidiscipline marine solutions. Furthermore we will all get more opportunities and be able to compete effectively with the top national marine firms," says John Chapman, currently MD at OCC.

Going forward Winston Stewart will head the new entity, COWI Marine NA, and looks forward to starting the integration process. John Chapman will take on the key position of Market Director for COWI's marine business across North America.

COWI Marine NA will be an operational business unit as of 1 January 2015.

More in Supply Chain